This invention relates to a developing device for a photosensitive material consisting of a cover base laminated through the intermediary of a photosensitive layer to a support member, wherein development of the photosensitive material is achieved by stripping the cover base from the support member.
With a photosensitive material consisting, for example, of a support member, such as an aluminum plate, a photosensitive layer containing a photo-hardening material, and a cover base having a photo-transmitting property, such as a polyethylene terephthalate film, and having characteristics in which an area of the photosensitive layer exposed to light is cured to be stuck to the support member and an area unexposed thereof is stuck to the cover base, an image on the photosensitive material is developed as a resist image on the support member by stripping the cover base.
One prior art developing device for such a photosensitive material has been such that development is achieved by sticking an adhesive tape to the surface of the cover base and taking up the adhesive tape to strip the cover base from the support member. Such a device, however, requires adhesive tape as well as an adhesive tape feed mechanism, resulting in increased manufacturing and running costs. Furthermore, such a device does not always function satisfactorily due to an insufficient adhesion of the adhesive tape to the cover base.
Another prior art developing device includes a roller provided with suction holes in the peripheral surface thereof, so that the cover base is stripped under suction from the support member for development. This type of developing device requires a vacuum pump and an air control mechanism, thus resulting in an increased size of the device itself, and hence an increased cost.